My Tasty Tuesday recipe today is the last one for any kind of fish or seafood. But it’s definitely not least in my book! I love crab, so I’ve been looking forward to sampling this one on how “To dress a Crab.” I do believe Mrs. Glasse was on to something…

To dress a Crab.

Having taken out the meat, and cleansed it from the skin, put it into a stew-pan, with half a pint of white-wine, a little nutmeg, pepper, and salt, over a slow fire. Throw in a few crumbs of bread, beat up one yolk of an egg with one spoonful of vinegar, throw it in, then shake the sauce pan round a minute, and serve it up on a plate.

Simple and straightforward recipe for crab, right? Really, it pretty much is with a few nuances that I needed to consider.

First, how much crab meat? Second, lump or claw or both? Knowing that in the 18th and even 19th centuries nothing was ever wasted, I can answer the second question first: both kinds of crab would have been thrown into the pot. But how much? Given the other measurements in the recipe, and how much I thought would be appropriate, I decided on one pound. Specifically, eight ounces of claw and eight of lump crab already picked and prepared from my local grocery store. After all, I live in northern Alabama and there is not much opportunity to get fresh crab around here except packed and shipped in from the Philippines (apparently).

Next the nutmeg and pepper seasonings made me pause. Both are spices, obviously, but wouldn’t the nutmeg overpower the delicate crab flavor? I love crab, so I wouldn’t want to overshadow its taste. I’d rather enhance it. So I decided to stick with my trusty seafood seasoning and only use a small amount to bolster the crab. As I’ve said before, I don’t cook with salt, so that was an easy item to cross off.

The crumbs of bread isn’t specified as to how much either. But after some thought, I chose to not use any because I don’t much enjoy breading in my crab cakes so I reasoned I’d enjoy the crab more without the crumbs. Turns out I was right to leave them out. Here’s what I ended up with…

Betty’s Dressed Crab

Ingredients ready to use

Ingredients

8 oz. lump crab meat

8 oz. claw crab meat

4 oz. white wine

½ T seafood seasoning

1 egg

1 T white vinegar

Crab meat ready to cook

Instructions

Put crab meat into a sauce pan.

Add the wine and seafood seasoning; stir to combine.

Heat through on medium heat.

Beat together the egg and vinegar. Stir into the crab meat.

Cook until the egg is done. Serve hot.

This was excellent and we’ll definitely enjoy this one again! It’s easy to make and healthy to boot. I served it with spinach cooked like I did for the Spinach and Eggs recipe and corn on the cob. It was a light and delicious supper for a warm Saturday evening.

Have you been enjoying these forays into old but new recipes? Next week we’ll move into a series of poultry recipes, including one for duck (should I be worried about that one since I’ve only ever cooked one in my life?). I’ve been enjoying the challenge and the insights I’ve gained from analyzing each of them. I’ve also learned more about my likes and dislikes, and just how patient my husband is with my wild ideas. Until next week… happy eating!

P.S. If you haven’t already, please consider signing up for my newsletter, which I only send out when there is news to share. News like new covers, new releases, and upcoming appearances where I love to meet my readers. Also, I’ll be sharing one chapter each month in 2017 of a new historical romance novella, Elizabeth’s Hope, the prequel to my A More Perfect Union historical romance series, with my subscribers. Thanks and happy reading!

In 1782, the fight for independence becomes personal in the port city Charles Town, South Carolina.

Midwife and healer, Samantha McAlester returns from the front lines to find Charles Town under British siege and the town’s new doctor at war with its citizens.

Dr. Trent Cunningham intends to build a hospital staffed solely with educated doctors. What he doesn’t need is a raven-haired charlatan spooning out herbs and false promises to his patients, while tempting him at every turn.

Then a mutual friend develops a mysterious infection. Trenton is stumped. Samantha suspects the cure but knows treatment will expose her long-guarded secret, risking all she holds dear… including Trenton.